Washington,. D.C.--In the wake of new Drug Enforcement Administration
raids on medical marijuana providers in California, the D.C.-based
Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) joined in a national day of protest
on June 6.

Organized under the banner of "Americans for Safe Access"
(ASA), medical marijuana patients, their families, friends, and
supporters took part in protests and nonviolent civil disobedience in
55 cities nationwide.

MPP's Bruce Mirken, acting on behalf of a friend with AIDS in California as well as all medical marijuana patients, is arrested and forcibly removed by police after blocking the entrance to the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

Bruce Mirken, director of communications for MP was arrested in
civil disobedience in the D.C. area, honoring a longtime friend with
AIDS whose health has been imperiled by the DEA's raids.

At 10:30 a.m. ten activists chained themselves to the door of
the Justice Department headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue
in Washington, D.C. They posted a "Cease and Desist" order
demanding an end to the DEA's medical marijuana raids.

The June 6 date was chosen because the U.S. District Court in
northern California is expected to reaffirm on (approximately) June 7 that it is
illegal under federal law to distribute medical marijuana, a ruling
that may be seen by the DEA as a green light for more raids.

"This does not mean, however, that the DEA should be using its
resources to target medical marijuana distributors, especially in
these times of terrorism," said Robert Kampia, MPP's executive
director. "Furthermore, the federal court decision will not in any way
negate the eight state laws that allow patients to use, possess, and
grow their own medical marijuana legally."

"I decided last week to join in the civil disobedience, after
getting a call from my friend Mary Lucey in Los Angeles," Mirken said.

Lucey, who served as interim AIDS Coordinator for the city of Los
Angeles, found that marijuana was the only thing that allowed her to
tolerate the harsh side effects of the anti-HIV drugs she must take to
stay alive.

"Marijuana is an absolutely essential part of her therapy,
and the DEA's raids last October cut off her safe supply. Now she
lives in constant fear. Our government has chosen, as a matter of
policy, to torture the sick, and those of us who are healthy have a
responsibility to stand up for them."

"Lucey and other supporters at the LA Cannabis Resource Center have
now started a hunger strike to protest the DEA's actions and demands
that the club be allowed to re-open."
State-By-State Medical Marijuana Laws:
How to Remove the Threat of Arrest:http://www.mpp.org/statelaw